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HSBC's Bizarre Lumberjack AdWhat does a violent environmental protest have to do with banking?

By John SwansburgPosted Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, at 6:16 AM ET

The Spot: Protesters guard a stand of trees, preventing a team of loggers from advancing. The police arrive and forcibly wrest the protesters from the forest. One young woman, her hands zip-tied behind her back, glares at a bald logger as she's led to a police cruiser. "Are you happy now?" she asks. Cut to a small jail. The woman is released from a cell, having been bailed out by the bald logger. She leaves the jail in a huff and gets on a motorcycle. The bald logger follows her out—and gets on the same motorcycle. As they drive along a woodland road, the woman, who has been holding on to a rear handlebar, puts her arms around the waist of the logger, who smiles almost imperceptibly. A narrator says: "The more you look at the world, the more you recognize that people value things differently. HSBC, the world's local bank."

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(Click here to watch the 90-second version making the rounds on YouTube; when the ad airs on television, it's in a 30-second cut.)

This spot feels more like a movie than a television ad. It's shot in a convincing cinema verité style. It's got a narrative arc, complete with a surprising plot twist and a provocative ending. It tackles, unflinchingly, a defining political issue of our time. And, yes, that is Joanna Newsom on the soundtrack. If Portland, Ore., had an annual Very Short Film Festival, "Lumberjack" would be a shoo-in for the People's Choice award.

Forgive me for asking so crass a question about such a poignant tale—but does any of this make you want to open a money-market account at HSBC? Headquartered in London, HSBC is the largest European bank and is a major player in Asia, where it got its start. (HSBC is short for Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.) While no bank will emerge from the global financial crisis unscathed, HSBC has weathered the storm far better than most. (Among other things, the bank is in the habit of keeping more deposits than loans on its books—fancy that.) Which raises another question: At a moment when many Americans are suffering financial shell shock, does it make sense to build your brand around an unsettling clash between policemen and protesters? Wouldn't it be better to talk about your bank's 140-year history, its 100 million customers worldwide, its $1 trillion (and change) in deposits?

Given the circumstances, HSBC could be forgiven for giving the competition a good smack upside the head. How do you like me now, Royal Bank of Scotland? Peep the balance sheet, UBS! But Tracy Britton, head of the bank's U.S. marketing division, told me the best way for HSBC to exploit its foresight is to stay the course. "Lumberjack" was conceived before the financial crisis struck, but HSBC plans to stick with the spot, and the larger branding effort of which it's a part. Last week, the bank bought out New York, filling the magazine with a dozen ads in its "Different Values" print campaign. Like "Lumberjack," the print ads stress the bank's different-strokes-for-different-folks message.

Does "Lumberjack" deliver that message? There's no denying it grabs the viewer's attention, thanks in no small part to Newsom, the indie-rock harpist whose voice reminds me of the mournful summer breeding call of the common loon. The $5 footlong jingle this is not. The visuals are similarly arresting: The forest location is lush, and the loggers and tree-huggers both look their parts. I particularly admire the tension-building shot, in the 90-second version, of a stoic protester taking off his spectacles as the police advance. Also the shot of the protester who is wearing a very realistic bear costume.

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John Swansburg is Slate's culture editor. You can e-mail him at and follow him at www.twitter.com/swansburg.

COMMENTS

Good Grief—I assumed he was her Dad!

--Ellamenta

(To reply, and author John Swansburg was among those who did, click here)

Meanwhile, successful campaigns right now are doing exactly what the reviewer suggested: Playing up the stability of the financial institution. A local credit union is running a plain-Jane campaign pointing out how they are stable, didn't get involved in any of the mortgage mess, and pay better rates than banks because they are member-owned. This doesn't have the entertainment value of a fictional environmentalist and her equally make-believe logger boyfriend, but I don't think many people are picking financial institutions right now based on whose commercial is most likely to win at Sundance.

--Sundown

(To reply, click here)

(10/28)

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